A Navy HSC-25 helicopter crew medically evacuated an injured crewmember from a cargo ship approximately 362 miles east of Guam. (Photo: U.S. Coast Guard)

SANTA RITA, Guam – U.S. Coast Guard and Navy crews teamed up Monday to rescue an injured crewmember from a ship approximately 362 miles east of Guam.

The Liberian-flagged cargo ship Tenso requested a medical evacuation for a 39-year-old male crewmember who suffered lacerations to the neck and head.

A Coast Guard cutter brought a medical corpsman aboard to evaluate the patient, who then called for an immediate medical evacuation.

A Navy helicopter crew airlifted the crewmember to U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, where he was met by awaiting Emergency Medical Services and transported to Guam Memorial Hospital.

“Under a memorandum of understanding between the Navy and Coast Guard, HSC-25’s commanding officer has local authority to launch to support Coast Guard search and rescue missions,” said Capt. Casey White, commander of Coast Guard Sector Guam. “Their response capabilities are very similar to a Coast Guard air station, including trained rescue swimmers, and they respond very quickly.”

HSC-25 is the Navy’s only forward-deployed MH-60S expeditionary squadron. As part of Helicopter Sea Combat Wing Pacific, it provides an armed helicopter capability for U.S. 7th Fleet in support of logistics, search and rescue and humanitarian assistance missions.

HSC-25 is also the only squadron that maintains a 24-hour search and rescue and medical evacuation alert posture, directly supporting the U.S. Coast Guard, Sector Guam and Joint Region Marianas.